Roleplay

Kulinda's eyes noticeably lit up as Sarahi beckoned her. Though she had just met the drakka, she was quite fond of the company. It had been a while since the arcane dragon had last had a companion since she lent her sprite to a young scholar to help him out with his studies.

She pondered the question for a few moments, her eyes rhythmically pulsing with a strange energy that only Arcane dragons had. "Sometimes." She started, looking at the plague dragon with softened eyes, "It helps to think of them as scared children. They know nothing other than their own bubble, and to pop it all at once is to cause suffering for all parties." She sighed deeply, turning her attention to a rat crawling among the brambles. "It is up to dragons like I to show others that their ugly stereotypes hold no water. It helps to have thick skin." With a concentrated blast of arcane energy she struck the rat without much more than a flick of the wrist, it died almost instantly. "We are very powerful, and we all can be frightening. No dragon is exempt from corruption, and no clan is more prone to it. They will learn this in time." She scooped the rat up in her claws, offering it to Sarahi, "Even if they must learn through grave mistakes."

(@brightcat135)

@Rii

Sarahi paused listening to Kulinda's words. She couldn't help but think her a naive fool going around and trying to change others' minds, trying to prove to those blind dolts that they weren't monsters. It was a fruitless effort, Sarahi would know, she tried before. But the dark imperial had to admire Kulinda's courage to at least try. Though she did startle slightly when Kulinda dispatched the unfortunate rat. She wasn't sure why Kulinda offered it to her, the tiny thing would hardly make a meal. On top of that the arcane energy radiating from it made her scales crawl. Perhaps it was more of a emphasis to her point about making grave mistakes. The rat wouldn't have died if it didn't come wandering under the paws of two gargantuan dragons.

"Either way, I gave those "scared children" a chance. Tried to appeal to them but..." Sarahi trailed off. "Never mind. My lair isn't so far from here now." Sarahi's lair lay beneath the roots of an ancient and gnarled tree. It's trunk was twisted from its attempts to grow towards the sun back when the forest was much younger. Now its thick branches obscured all light leaving only bare and leafless plant-life beneath it. At first it seemed that there was no entrance, nothing to indicate dragon habitation, but a closer look with magic imbued vision would reveal a thin blanket of shadow magic covering the area. It was Umbra's doing, of course. The little sprite had weaved a safe haven for Sarahi, nearly invisible to all except those who knew where to look. Sarahi vanished inside, her form passing through what looked like a thick tree root as if she were a ghost.

"You, stay out here." She poked her head back out to pin Kulinda with an icy stare. She still didn't trust the guardian and wasn't about to let her inside. "Get some rest while you can. Sleep is a luxury here." The imperial said before vanishing back inside. Umbra flitted about in lazy circles touching up the magic here and there, spots where paw prints were becoming visible again. Kulinda would notice that even she didn't leave any tracks here, not to the naked eye anyway.

---

"Fan out! She can't escape us all! Not this time." A throng of dragons filtered into the dark woods, their light magics shining brightly. The wildlife fled before the wave of intruders as they poured in. Another hatchling had been taken in the short time since Kulinda's departure. This time they had seen the culprit. It was a dark imperial clad in tattered rags and bird bones with blood red eyes. They chased the interloper to the border, but the kidnapper vanished without a trace. The hatchling was snatched right at the border of the woods who had been exploring with a friend heedless of their parents' warnings. This was it. They couldn't wait for Kulinda to find Sarahi, they were going to do it themselves. And, unfortunately for Sarahi, she'd been lax in covering her trail having been guiding Kulinda all they way.

They plunged deeper and deeper into the woods, their shouts and trampling echoing throughout. And it didn't take long for them to pick up the trail.

"There's two sets of tracks here! And they're fresh!" One called out. "Definitely large dragons. An imperial to be sure and likely a guardian."

"You don't think they're..."

"No no, it's too early to jump to conclusions. That arcanian might be on that beast's trail like us. But if they are working together... Let's just hope their gods are ready to receive them early."

@Rii ((bump))

(@Brightcat135 Sorry for the delay my friend, finally got settled and stuff! )

Kulinda sighed deeply, taking the rare chance to stretch her huge body, her joints cracking satisfyingly. She let out a deep sigh as she splayed her body out on the ground, her thick hide stopping any sharp rocks that would impede her comfort. She watched the shadow sprite with interest, smiling at its efforts. It was quite fun to watch the sprite work, and she almost had drifted off to sleep watching before a noise made her snap back to full alertness.

Approaching footsteps? Could it be the residents of the town that they had just passed? Perhaps they wanted revenge for the interrogation? The Arcane dragon shook the sleepiness from her head and heaved herself to her feet, casting a few wards to protect herself and her companions. Hopefully it was just a passing hunting party, but it was doubtful with how late it was.

@Rii ((Glad to have you back! :) ))

As the sound moved closer, angry voices could be heard calling through the thick growth. faint beams of light flashed from their lanterns as they searched.

"Check over there!"

"Here's a tunnel! No.. it's nothing..."

"I thought I saw something!"

Umbra snapped its head around in the direction of the voices, eyes widening with fear. A group this large has never passed this way before. The sprite promptly disappeared within the lair, it's magic wouldn't be enough to fool someone if they stepped right on top of the lair! Deep inside Sarahi had already curled up in her nest and was drifting off, but Umbra's frantic tugging on her antlers and chattering woke her.

"What now? Is it the arcanian?" Sarahi rumbled rising to her paws in half a moment. If Kulinda was trying something sneaky Sarahi had no issue with giving her a face full of claws. But Umbra furiously began gesturing and pulling at Sarahi again. Trespassers! A lot of them! She put her ear to the earthen wall of her sleeping chamber and sure enough she heard them. Their trampling through the forest could be heard miles away she was sure.

The search party was drawing ever closer. Sarahi poked her head out of the tree trunk.

"Arcanian!" She hissed in a low whisper. "Get in!" The imperial disappeared within.

Kulinda shook her head, turning to Sarahi's lair. "I will try to get them off your trail." She murmured, unsure if the plague dragon even heard her.

Taking a few seconds to flatten her crests so that she appeared more calm, she headed in the direction of the voices, putting on a confused face as she neared the search party. "Hail, villagers." she called out so that they wouldn't think she was being sneaky. "What brings you here? I assured you that I would be able to take care of this myself. I have been very close to her trail for a while now. I appreciate the thought but more than just me would blow any cover I have."

(@brightcat135)

@Rii

Sarahi fled down into the deeper parts of her lair through twisting tunnels. She knew it like the back of her paw and wasn't hindered by the lack of light.

"C'mon this-" Sarahi skidded to a halt when she realized that Kulinda hadn't come down with her. "Plaguebringer's puss!" She spat and whirled around to head back the way she came. She didn't know why but she couldn't leave the arcanian, Umbra probably wouldn't let her anyway.


"There! Someone's over there!" The search party honed in on Kulinda and approached her. They were wary, bodies tensed and ready for a fight. They stopped as she spoke.

"That retch you've been tracking has struck again! This time under our very snouts! There's no time for cover now, that monster must be stopped!" A ridgeback roared.

"I know that imperial scum's been this way, I can smell her!" A tundra pipped up. Her nostrils flared in Kulinda's direction and she snarled hackles raised. "And her smell's on you!" The small dragon said with an accusatory tone. The villagers bared there teeth. With their blood up and out with the intent to kill it was a precarious situation at best.

"You better explain yourself, stargazer. No lies. Where's that she-beast? Have you found her?" The ridgeback spoke again. A heated murmur went through the crowd, some saying that perhaps this strange arcane dragon was in league with the imperial. It would explain how she'd been able to escape every time; she had a powerful sorceress as an ally!


Sarahi froze in the entryway of the tunnel listening; she was too late to drag Kulinda back with her. Her heart was hammering in her chest. If the villagers shone enough of their light magic on the area they could easily dispel the shadow magic cloak. They'd have to run. It wasn't looking good for the black guardian. She'd have to chose her next words very carefully.

Kulinda feigned laughter, luckily her acting was rather good. "Of course her smell is on me, I've gotten quite close to catching her! We had a bit of a squabble before, I had almost beaten her but she used plague magics to temporarily blind me. Luckily my scales and magic barriers were too thick for her to do actual damage." She looked at the other dragons, surprised. "What do you mean she has struck again? I have been on her trail for all this time, never once has she gone near the village!" She gasped, " It's not possible she could have! My magic would sense if she had put down fake scent to lead me astray!" She paced back and forth, making quite a good act of being very bothered by this new information and deep in thought, her neck fins flared with partially real distress. "Perhaps.. Someone else..?" She murmured, acting like it was more to herself.

@brightcat135

@Rii

There was a ripple of agitated chatter through the crowd of light dragons.

"Then that must mean she must have an accomplice!" One shouted. They all rose their voices trying to speak over one another as to what to do now. Eventually hunting party leader roared to quiet everyone down. He commanded that half the group split off and begin their search anew for another imperial while he and the others remained.

"We'll help you, star-gazer. If it's true what you say than the first dragoness can't be far ahead." The little tundra began sniffing around again coming dangerously close to the cloaked lair entrance. Sarahi could see the shadow cast by the furry dragon with the lights blazing behind her. The plague imperial took several steps backward.

"Which direction do you think the imperial was headed?" The ridgeback asked Kulinda.

Kulinda shook her head softly. "There is no way to tell, her tracks are quite tough to follow, and with all the chatter if she were near she'd be very far by now. Perhaps even out of the forest." She paused in thought for a few seconds, quite desperate for an idea, though she betrayed no emotion outside of her mind. "All that we can say is that she most likely has fled from this area from all the voices, and now most likely knows she is being chased. It is likely she either fled the woods all together or headed even deeper into them. Another town near here whispered of powerful creatures in the center of the woods, she very well may meet her end without us." Quickly, she added "It is also entirely possible that the hatchling that has gone missing does not have to do with her, I sensed absolutely no others with her."

@brightcat135